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I am blessed to live where my grandfather homesteaded, to have three beautiful daughters who are my best friends, to have six delightful grandchildren who live nearby, to be married to my sweetheart of 35 years and to thrill to the special magic of creating my own works of art. I'll never cease to thrill to witnessing new ideas and images come to life from the point of a pencil or splash of a brush.
I am blessed.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Z IS FOR ZEBRA

Last spring a wonderful customer sent me her childhood dictionary as a thank you after she purchased some of my artwork at a show. When the book arrived I knew I wanted to do something special with this treasure.

The first thing I noticed was the lovely inscription on the flyleaf that this book was a Christmas gift in 1944 from the owner' father.

Next I noticed that the book was copyrighted in 1939.

I also loved this page at the beginning of the book.

After months of thinking about what I'd like to do with the book, I decided I wanted to create a series of drawings for each letter of the alphabet. Unlike the other dictionaries I had used, this one had less text on each page - most only had four words defined with simple definitions.

The first page I pulled to draw on had the word "Zebra."

I also wanted to create more whimsical, cartoon-like drawings for this series, I decided that I wanted to make these drawings specifically for children.

I've worked on a lot of very old and very fragile pages but this book took the cake. The pages were extremely brittle and stiff so the slightest touch created rips and broke off edges and corners. When I finished the first drawing I sealed the back side of the page with gel medium to try to strengthen the paper before scanning and framing.

I'm exactly sure how I will frame or reproduce these drawings. I'm currently experimenting with lots of different ideas.

So here is my first attempt to draw on this beautiful page. I had so much fun creating the dancing zebra frolicking through the zinnias. At first I wasn't sure what dance he was doing then my daughter made the perfect suggestion - Zumba.

As you can see, I had to patch a last minute tear or two on the page. I think this repair just adds to the personality of the page. I can't wait to share his brothers and sisters.

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Flying Shoes Art Studio

The Flying Shoes Art Studio is owned and managed by Oklahoma, regional artist, Kristy Patterson. "My feet don't touch the ground when I am creating," Kristy claims and it is evident in her work that she soars both technically and creatively. Kristy currently teaches art at Guymon High School after twenty years spent in careers as varied as her artistic interests. Her employment has ranged from director of a residential drug rehab center to being a police woman all the while following her childhood dream of creating original works of art from her studio. Her artwork is collected and displayed throughout Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Kansas.I know you will enjoy following her work! Audrey Brooks, art dealer & friend - San Antonio, TX